So, this 'Babylon 5' thing better be good...
- Thread starter Ethros
- Start date
As I recall reading, the only unscripted part of the Centauri party scene was the actors didn't know that Jurasik was going to climb on the table and crawl along it. That's why you can see actors frantically grabbing plates away from him and some of them cracking up in the scene.
It wasn't his wife, it was an old flame. AFAIK, all of the character substitutions from the pilot to the series were made for "real world" reasons......the actor was unavailable, or the studio wanted someone else, or something like that. The show largely doesn't dwell on what happened to the characters from the pilot, but there are some exceptions to that.
From memory I think Sinclair mentioned in 'Parliament of Dreams' that they parted ways after he refused to leave Earthforce and go into business with her. Good thing too because Sakai was a more interesting character...well ok, they're superficially similar (old flames working as freelance spacers) but the actress that played Carolyn gave a less than memorable performance.
I just finished S4 and then watched In the Beginning.
That was awesome, In the Beginning seemed to be JMS saying "Here, look how clever I am, look how cleverly I tied all these loose plot strings together and I planned it all too!" and frankly it's hard to disagree
That was awesome, In the Beginning seemed to be JMS saying "Here, look how clever I am, look how cleverly I tied all these loose plot strings together and I planned it all too!" and frankly it's hard to disagree
^ Oh I didn't mind the showboating, he is entitled to it. It was nice to have the whole thing neatly summed up at the end in a way that didn't feel like he was repeating himself.
I nearly made the mistake of watching that movie before I watched the series though, thank god I didn't do that!
I nearly made the mistake of watching that movie before I watched the series though, thank god I didn't do that!
Well I've watched the first six episodes so far of Season 1, just watched "The Mind War" this morning
The thing is I'm not one for writing big reviews, so "not bad" kinda sums it up so far
The second episode about the Soul Hunter was kinda dull, and ep 4 with the robot monster thing was a little cheesy. But then from what I've heard of the show's first season I expected that sort of thing going in so I'll live.
The other episodes were good though, Garibaldi, Londo & G'Kar are easily the most interesting and fun charatcers to watch so far.
Glad they replaced the First Officer and Doctor from "The Gathering" as they weren't overly exceptional, but so far Ivanova has been somewhat drab too.
I might have missed something but now Sinclair is having relations with Catherine Sakai; what happened to his wife* from the pilot?
*I think it was his wife anyway, can't recall
Also just a quick question, what's the planet behind the station? Is there anything/anyone on it?
One thing I like about B5 is that none of the episodes are really throw away, though some are pretty clunky or heavy handed. Infection is very heavy handed on race, but the theme is one that will p-lay through the series and how racism is a defunct and dangerous mode of thought. Another is advanced tech, especially tech from alien and especially unknown alien races. There is a lot of running around the galaxy for ancient technology. Most of it little understood and very unexpectedly dangerous.
Soul Hunter I liked a lot as I enjoyed the mysticism involved. It does have some bearing on the issues relating to the B5 universe's ideas on the ultimate evolution of sentient species.
Some of the ideas of the show play out well and clearly, others are tangential and not necessary to the plot of the main story, much like the history of the elves isn't important to following the story of the Lord of the Rings. However, all of it does fit in, not always well, but it has a point in the B5 uni.
While "In the Beginning" is certainly well crafted, I just can't rate it that highly for showing events we already knew about and even taking a bunch of clips from old episodes. I really would have liked to have seen, yknow, NEW scenes with Sinclair. Or the bit where Garibaldi's GROPOS unit is ((spoiler removed)).
Last edited:
They should have kept him in and dropped Franklin. Nothing against Rick at all, but I found it
that Sheridan and Franklin shared this little adventure 10 years past, yet seemed to have just met in season 2.
I could swallow the Sheridan-Franklin past... they don't actually "meet" each other in S2 and Sheridan seems to be on pretty good terms with him, versus Garibaldi who he never really got on with. And also, I think putting Franklin in ITB makes more sense than Garibaldi. Sure the ((spoiled removed)) would have been really cool to see but it would be a little separate story from the actual movie, whereas Franklin trashing his ((spoiler removed)) is more apropos to the plot.
Last edited:
Yeah....guys.....please cool it on the spoilers. Ethros is probably thinking right now "What's a Shadow?"
Well I've watched a few more, the last one being ep 11- Survivors
Thing is I know because the way I'll watch the show I can tell a lot of the episodes will merge together. The same thing happened when I watched all of The Sopranos a few months back; the first two seasons are a total blur
Anyway, The War Prayer was ok but a poor mans Terra Prime
And the Sky Full of Stars started out a bit cheesy with the bad guys and the mind game stuff, but the revelations about Sinclair's missing time was interesting.
Deathwalker and Surivors were enjoyable enough, but I'd say Believers was easily the best one so far. A good solid Trek-like ethics show that didn't shy away or have some lame cop out ending
Thing is I know because the way I'll watch the show I can tell a lot of the episodes will merge together. The same thing happened when I watched all of The Sopranos a few months back; the first two seasons are a total blur
Anyway, The War Prayer was ok but a poor mans Terra Prime
And the Sky Full of Stars started out a bit cheesy with the bad guys and the mind game stuff, but the revelations about Sinclair's missing time was interesting.
Deathwalker and Surivors were enjoyable enough, but I'd say Believers was easily the best one so far. A good solid Trek-like ethics show that didn't shy away or have some lame cop out ending
Well, I know I'm turning up late to this particular party....but hey, better late than never. 
B5 is a great show, Ethros. And you got a really great price on an impressive set! Even comes with Crusade - that's pretty neat!
I'm sure you've been told this about a million times in this thread by now, but hang in there with B5. The first season is reasonably good the first time you see it (save for a couple of dumb episodes), but it improves ALOT once you see the rest of the series and then go back to re-watch season 1. Because it is only then that you see all the foreshadowing of things to come that you don't see on the first viewing of that season.
Season 2 improves significantly. Season 3, IMO, is the best single season of any scifi show EVER. It is all kinds of awesome. Season 4 is very good too. Season 5 has it's bumps at the beginning...but the show finishes up quite nicely with the last half of that season.
Don't really have time to go back and read all the posts made in this thread so far. But I did want to stop by and give you good wishes. Hope you really enjoy B5. For me (who arrived on this BBS as a fan only of Trek), the advice I took 5 years ago in this very forum to give B5 a try was the single best piece of advice I've taken from this board, in the 7.5 years I've been here.
Hope you feel the same once you get into it.
Oh...and by the way, where you really want to start paying close attention is with episode 18 - Babylon Squared. The arc of the show really begins to kick in there - with those last 3 episodes of season 1. From there on, it just gets better.
B5 is a great show, Ethros. And you got a really great price on an impressive set! Even comes with Crusade - that's pretty neat!
I'm sure you've been told this about a million times in this thread by now, but hang in there with B5. The first season is reasonably good the first time you see it (save for a couple of dumb episodes), but it improves ALOT once you see the rest of the series and then go back to re-watch season 1. Because it is only then that you see all the foreshadowing of things to come that you don't see on the first viewing of that season.
Season 2 improves significantly. Season 3, IMO, is the best single season of any scifi show EVER. It is all kinds of awesome. Season 4 is very good too. Season 5 has it's bumps at the beginning...but the show finishes up quite nicely with the last half of that season.
Don't really have time to go back and read all the posts made in this thread so far. But I did want to stop by and give you good wishes. Hope you really enjoy B5. For me (who arrived on this BBS as a fan only of Trek), the advice I took 5 years ago in this very forum to give B5 a try was the single best piece of advice I've taken from this board, in the 7.5 years I've been here.
Hope you feel the same once you get into it.
Oh...and by the way, where you really want to start paying close attention is with episode 18 - Babylon Squared. The arc of the show really begins to kick in there - with those last 3 episodes of season 1. From there on, it just gets better.
Last edited:
The War Prayer - Always enjoyed this one. Interesting view there Ethros, but I guarantee that the storyline kicks Terra Prime in the balls come the end of the season.
And the Sky Full of Stars - Along with Mind War, this is the episode that really got me into the show. Fantastic episode in its own right and huge hints at certain answers, but yet more questions.
Deathwalker - Again, always enjoyed this one. Like the un-Federation-like lack of morals that leads to the Humans having few qualms about the rights or wrongs of harbouring Jha'dur in exchange for her help. A surprising amount of foreshadowing in this one that possibly passed you by until it makes itself evident later on.
Believers - Never liked this one as much as others seem to. It deserves credit for its un-Trek like resolution, but personally, after the last couple I usually find this one to be a bit of a let-down. Good Franklin episode, and a decent story, but it's less than the sum of its parts IMO.
Survivors - Good background episode for Garibaldi. Average story, elevated by Garibaldi/Doyle.
Looks like Signs & Portents will be in your next batch of episodes. Enjoy
And the Sky Full of Stars - Along with Mind War, this is the episode that really got me into the show. Fantastic episode in its own right and huge hints at certain answers, but yet more questions.
Deathwalker - Again, always enjoyed this one. Like the un-Federation-like lack of morals that leads to the Humans having few qualms about the rights or wrongs of harbouring Jha'dur in exchange for her help. A surprising amount of foreshadowing in this one that possibly passed you by until it makes itself evident later on.
Believers - Never liked this one as much as others seem to. It deserves credit for its un-Trek like resolution, but personally, after the last couple I usually find this one to be a bit of a let-down. Good Franklin episode, and a decent story, but it's less than the sum of its parts IMO.
Survivors - Good background episode for Garibaldi. Average story, elevated by Garibaldi/Doyle.
Looks like Signs & Portents will be in your next batch of episodes. Enjoy
Similar threads
